Stocking



Sept. 10, 1935. .1. M. JOHNSTON STOCKING Filed March 1, 1953 INVEIYTOR: Jul 1 1 x 7% Jumzsfm L1,

ATTORNEYS.

WITNESSES.-

Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES STOCKING John M. Johnston, Elkins Park, Pa., assignor to John Blood & Co. Incorporated, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 1,

3 Claims.

' This invention relates to stockings; and it has reference more particularly to long hose or ladies stockings knit from luster yarns such as silk or rayon. v

The aim of my invention is to make possible the production of stockings of fine gage which are wrinkle and snag-proof and therefore capable of maintaining their original shape notwithstanding rough handling in use, or in laundering; which are highly resistive to pulling and hence correspondingly secure against runs; and which, moreover, are characterized by an attractive subdued or semi-gloss finish.

As hereinafter fully disclosed, I realize the above desideratum in practice by knitting my improved stocking from a specially prepared yarn composed of a number of ends of silk whereof the majority are hard twisted individually in the same direction, and the others are untwisted, and. the entire group finally incorporated into the yarn by hard twisting in the direction opposite to that of the individually twisted ends.

Fig. I shows a lady's stocking such as may be produced as a snag and wrinkle-proof structure in accordance with my invention.

Fig. II is an enlarged diagrammatic view of portion of the stocking fabric within the square indicated in dot and dash lines at A in Fig. I;

and Fig. III is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the construction of the hard twist yarn from which my improved stocking is knit.

The stocking delineated in Fig. I is of the usual full fashioned variety capable of being produced on straight knitting machines of the Cotton" type, it having, as usual,- a welt top It, a shaped leg I I, and a reinforced foot l2.

In accordance with my invention I produce a stocking of this kind from hard twist yarn 13 made after the manner illustrated in Fig. III, from three ends I4, I5 and I6 of raw silk or rayon, each such end being composed in the present instance of eight'separate filaments. The ends l4, I5 I prepare initially by hard twistin them individually both in the same direction, fifty turns to the inch. With the ends it, I5 so prepared, I associate the end li, which, it will be noted, is without twist, and hard twist the three together sixty-five turns to the inch in the direction opposite to that of the individual ends M, ii aforesaid to form the yarn 13. In the present instance, the ends it and I5 are-shown as being individually twisted to the left, and combined with thcend I! byt'wisting ofthcthreetotheright.

1933, Serial No. 659,076

Incident to the knitting, the carriers of the knitting machine serve the yarn to the needles first in one direction and then in the other,-the yarn, by reason of its hard twist, relative stiifness and stability (due to the reverse twisting), lending itself to the formation, in successive courses ll of the fabric (Fig. II), of uniformlyrounded evenly-spaced loops I 8.

- Accordingly, there results from the foregoing procedure, a stocking embodying my invention, 10 which, although very delicate in texture and appearance, is strong and durable, which is snag and wrinkle-proof and therefore capable of maintaining its original shape notwithstanding rough handling in use or in laundering; which is 15 highly resistive to pulling; and which, moreover,

is characterized by a semi-gloss which adds materially to its attractiveness.

While I have given specific figures as to the number of twists in two of the ends incorporated 2 in the yarn and also as to the final twist of the three component ends, I do not wish to be considered as limited to these numbers since the advantages described of my new stocking may be attained by. varying the initial twist of the two individual ends from forty-five to fifty five turns, and likewise varying the combining twist of the three from sixty to seventy turns per inch. It is also to be understood that my invention is not necessarily restricted to a full fashioned stocking, nor to a stocking knit with three ply yarn since in the composition of the yarn the number of component ends may be varied provided that the twisting of the majority of such ends and the final twist is such as to predetermine the desired results in the finished product.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a wrinkle and snag-proof stocking knit from yarn composed of a number of ends of textile fibers such as silk, 40 each said end including a predetermined number of filaments and the majority of which ends are twisted individually forty-five to fifty-five turns per inch in the same direction and the others untwisted, and the whole group twisted together sixty to seventy turns to the inch in a direction opposite to that of the individually twisted ends.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a wrinkle and snag-proof stocking knit from yarn composed of three ends of textile fibers such as silk, each said end including a like number of filaments and two of which ends are individually twisted forty-five to fifty-five turns per, inch and the third untwisted, and the three ends twisted together sixty to seventy turns per inch in a. direction opposite to that of the two individually twisted ends.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a. wrinkle and snag-proof stocking knit from yarn com- 5 posed of a definite number of ends of textile fibers such as silk, each said end including an equal number 01' filaments and the majority of which ends are individually twisted fifty turns to the inch in one direction and the third untwisted, and the whole group of such ends twisted together sixty-five turns to the inch in a direction oppo site to that of the individually twisted ends.

JOHN M. JOHNSTON. 

